


Teen Wolf, Season 3, Episode 1, Tattoo

by TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Analysis, Episode Review, Episode: s03e01 Tattoo, Meta, Nonfiction, Season Premiere, Season/Series 03, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 17:34:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16246499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer/pseuds/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer
Summary: Warning: Contains spoilers for the episode and rest of the series. Complete.





	Teen Wolf, Season 3, Episode 1, Tattoo

Open to night. The ground has blood on it, and a blurry figure drags someone across.

The young woman is Braeden, and her name will be revealed in the penultimate episode of the season. Here, she applies car connector/jumper cables to the wounded figure, and said figure is revealed to be Isaac. He bolts awake, and helping him up, she explains the alpha werewolves stole some of his memories.

She gets them both on her motorcycle. I’d normally object to her putting the helmet on when the more vulnerable of the two, Isaac, would benefit more, but I realise this could be due to a need to hide a stunt double’s face, and character-wise, it’d probably come across as strange if she happened to be carrying around two helmets.

Wrapping his arms around her waist, she makes it clear he’s to hold on, no matter what.

Soon, identical twin brother werewolves, Aiden and Ethan, are chasing them. The brothers corner them in a dead-end alley. Repeating her command for Isaac to hold on, Braeden heads straight for them, makes a turn at the last minute, and drives through a window.

All of this causes Isaac to briefly lose consciousness, and thus, makes his weight topple the bike over.

Reappearing, the twins take off their shirts and literally merge into one werewolf.

Producing a stun gun, Braeden uses it on them.

This causes them to disappear, and she makes a quip about how she told Isaac to hold on. Isaac has no retort due to again losing consciousness.

After the credits, Scott and Stiles are at a tattoo parlour. Scott wants two bands around his shoulder, and Stiles is less-than-excited about this plan. He reacts even less-favourably to the needle gun.

Scott isn’t eighteen.

Here are the options: Melissa has given consent, in which case, I’d think she’d have to actually be here.

Scott has fooled the tattoo artist with a fake I.D., in which case, good on him for learning from Frenemy **.**

The tattoo artist didn’t bother to ask this young looking patron for I.D.

Or finally, the tattoo artist is outright breaking the law by agreeing to tattoo someone underage without parental consent.

Later, in the car, the skin heals, and the tattoo disappears.

“Thank God, I hated it,” is Stiles’s attempt at a supportive, empathetic response. Heh.

I’ve actually thought about this, and I don’t know if it’s possible or not, but wouldn’t it be funny if the tattoo artist actually somehow gave Scott a legitimate fake tattoo?

I mean, it wouldn’t be right on his part, but what if, instead of it being a werewolf thing, it’s actually just a human screwing him over using human tricks?

Whatever this says about me, I would find this hilarious.

Elsewhere, Lydia and Allison are driving, and this where I have my first major problem with the episode. In fact, this is one big problem I have with season 3 in general: The exposition in it can be so clunky.

It’s established Allison has been in Paris, and Jackson was trained by Derek before Mr Jackson moved the family to England.

All of this is important, but it could have been handled more naturalistically.

Then, Stiles and Scott pull up right next to them, and there’s clunky exposition about how Scott and Allison haven’t texted or called all summer. Now, if it had been Stiles saying this, it probably still would have been clunky, but it would have worked better than having Scott tell him this.

The four teenagers realise they’re parked next to one another, and in what I hope didn’t actually happen, Lydia ignores the red light at the frantic urging of Allison.

If it did, good thing the road is completely empty and that the light doesn’t have a security camera. It’s even better no traffic accidents were caused.

Scott makes Stiles stop in the middle of the road, and Allison tells Lydia to turn around so that they can talk to the boys. Before Lydia can, a deer runs straight into her car.

Once it’s established everyone besides the deer is okay, Scott announces the deer was terrified.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, there’s a bigger problem than clunky exposition when Isaac and Braeden are brought into the hospital. Melissa tries to talk to Isaac, and he insists she tend to Braeden.

Melissa tries to talk to her, but instead of telling the people wheeling her to stop and let them talk, Melissa only gets a bit of the conversation before they rush her off. I know Braeden is in bad condition, but it doesn’t seem as if she’s critical. Being a nurse, Melissa could have and should have made them stop or else followed right behind them and stayed until Braeden was settled.

I also don’t know if these scrubs are different from the ones she had on last time in season 2, but the next time she has on different scrubs, I’m calling it.

An easy solution would have been to have Braeden unconscious when she came in, and then, show a scene of her muttering in her sleep about needing to find the alpha, Scott McCall. Braeden telling Melissa to get the alpha Melissa assumes is Derek does nothing. Melissa was already guaranteed to call Derek once Isaac was wheeled in.

In the morning, Scott is exercising and reading.

At the Argent house, Allison is trying to get over her apprehension of going to school, and Chris doesn’t help by quasi-encouraging her to skip it. She knows she needs to go, however.

Next is Stiles. He’s too busy researching deer to go to school. Sheriff S attempts both bribery and extortion before simply dragging his son’s chair away from the computer. Hee.

Meanwhile, Lydia is giving the cold shoulder to her booty call.

I think I’ve said this before, but if I hadn’t: My problem isn’t Lydia being sexual. It’s the fact she’s a jerk about it and occasionally uses her sexuality as a weapon. If she wants to have casual sex, fine, but establishing the person she’s having it with understands she doesn’t want anything more and trying to make sure they are truly okay with this is something she should do before having it. And here, I’m not saying she should be all smiley or agree to get breakfast with the guy, but some simple politeness would make my irritation with her here non-existent.

Next, Scott arrives to school on a motorcycle.

Inside, Stiles doesn’t like the idea of Scott talking to Derek about making the tattoo more permanent. Bringing up a strong argument by pointing to missing posters of Erica and Boyd on the hallway billboard, he says Derek has his hands full.

This is true, but has Stiles found out what Scott did to Derek? Later scenes make it clear Stiles has been working with Derek, Peter, and Isaac to find the two betas over the summer.

Scott doesn’t realise this. Until later, Derek has washed his hands of Scott, but Scott hasn’t realised or cared about this.

Even if Stiles doesn’t know what Scott did, does he know Scott did something to make Derek exclude him, or is Stiles simply trying to give Scott the normality Scott has claimed to want?

They witness the principal grumping about getting the library fixed. Then, he finds one of Gerard’s swords.

This didn’t happen. Scott is explicitly established to have gone to summer school. Summer school means there would have been teachers, aides, and potentially the principal himself at school during the four-month summer hiatus. Construction would have been started during those four months, and all of Gerard’s weapons would have been found.

Lydia and Allison are talking by their lockers, and Lydia drools over supposed fourteen-year-old boys. She declares she wants a distraction.

Fine, but perhaps, she should find one who won’t have her put on a sex offender registry.

They spot the twins. The twins do have on different coloured shirts, but this does nothing to help me identify them, and nor will it later in the series. Someone claimed Aiden tends to wear longer shirts in order to cover up a tattoo the actor has, but this won’t help me, either.

Over at the hospital, Braeden wakes up.

In another room, Melissa and Isaac try to deal with the fact he’s visibly healing and is scheduled for surgery soon. She’s tried calling Derek numerous times, and he asks her to call Scott.

Unreliable narration only goes so far. Season 3 introduced some great characters, but some of the writing was just plain bad.

Here’s what she could do if not for the plot demanding he remain inside the hospital:Put him in a wheelchair, wheel him outside with some excuse, lock him in her car (so that no one can get to him without raising an alarm, not to imprison him), come back, and when asked where he is, just lie about not seeing him since dropping him back off in his room. He could hide until he fully healed or until her shift was over.

This could have still worked with the alphas. One of them breaks into the car and starts to kidnap him, and Scott and/or Derek get there in time to see it happen and stop it. Inside, there’s some other brief scene introducing Dr Van.

She leaves, and Sheriff S comes across her. He asks her to contact him when Braeden isn’t so heavily sedated, and the lady in question is messing with her IV. Presumably, this is to stop the sedatives from entering her bloodstream.

Now for a scene I hate.

First, let me make something clear: Reading certain reviews will make it clear I’m a Sterek shipper, but I have always triednot to let shipping inform my opinion of a character. When I first wrote this review, I didn’t even know Jennifer Blake was supposed to be a love interest for Derek.

For the first few episodes, her main function is of a teacher, and she is a horrible one. This fact was my big objection to her until it turned out she essentially raped Derek.

Before that particular fact was revealed, I didn’t care one way or another about her and Derek. I wasn’t shipping them, but her character was more preferable when she was with him than when she was being a horrible teacher.

Harris is a horrible teacher, too, but his role has always put more emphasis on his antagonistic role. He’s acknowledged as and supposed to be viewed as a horrible teacher due to how he treats his students.

Most of the time, Jennifer actually treats her students okay when she’s in teacher mode, but she does so many other things a teacher shouldn’t do. I wish I could give the show credit for this being intentional since she’s likely in the school on forged papers and has little-to-no training. However, as shown since the first season, the show often doesn’t understand how American schools actually work.

Back to the review, the characters all enter the classroom. Lydia and Stiles both subtly make it where Allison ends up sitting in front of Scott. Then, everyone receives a text from the Jennifer, and she declares it’s the last text they’ll get in her class.

There are so many things I object to already.

Moving on, at the hospital, a barefoot, scrubs-wearing Kali walks past Melissa as Melissa is trying to call Scott on his phone.

No. If a parent needs to talk to their kid during school hours, they call the office. A later scene shows Melissa did do this, but she did it after Scott didn't have his phone on in school, and good thing he didn't, or Jennifer might have actually done something right and confiscated it.

Kali goes to Isaac’s room, and he doesn’t sense danger. Politely but hurriedly answering her question, he tries to leave. However, she injects something into his IV.

He notices her werewolf toes, and as the sedative takes effect, showing off her claws and alpha eyes, she counts down.

In class, Allison passes Scott a note asking if they can talk. Coming in, a man whispers to Jennifer.

Calling Scott out into the hallway, she brings up his past attendance record.

It’s not the conversation itself I object to. It’s the fact she does it here.

Assuring her it’ll be different this year, Scott leaves.

Back at the hospital, Kali finds Braeden gone and a deputy unconscious and handcuffed to the bed.

In class, Stiles notices a bandage on Lydia’s leg. She tells him Prada bit her. He floats the theory animals are giving a warning something bad is coming.

A bird crashes into the wind, and I dearly hope Jennifer was a better nurse than she is a teacher. She infuriates me with her mishandling of the situation, and more birds come and crash through the window. Stiles shields Lydia.

Meanwhile, Scott asks why Melissa didn’t call him earlier, and she says she was hoping she wouldn’t have to. When she directs him to Isaac’s room, he sweetly kisses her cheek before leaving.

Braeden sneaks out of the hospital, and no one pays any attention to the stumbling, furtive-looking woman.

Meanwhile, Isaac’s in O.R.

In the elevator, a blind man, Deucalion, joins Scott.

Over in O.R. everyone is baffled by Isaac’s smooth skin, and this is Dr Vandenburg’s first apperance.

Back in the elevator, Deucalion asks Scott for help, and before Scott can respond, Deucalion puts his hand on Scott’s shoulder.

If Deucalion messed with his memories here, it’d make some of season 3A more tolerable, but even this would only excuse so much.

In the O.R., Dr Van grumpily orders Isaac taken away. Wearing scrubs, Ennis puts Isaac in a wheelchair.

Wandering around, Scott sees Ennis take Isaac into an elevator. Scott manages to get in, and he and Ennis fight.

Then, Derek shows up and dispatches Ennis.

Beacon Hills Hospital, the place where scrubs switch without explanation, nurses can run around barefoot, no one tries to stop a visibly injured patient from walking out in her dressing gown, and no one bats an eye at someone being bodily thrown out of a lift.

Back at school, Jennifer is having a silent freak-out.

Sheriff S and Chris are both there, and Sheriff S comes over to Chris and Allison to ask Chris’s opinion on the strange animal behaviour. Overly defensive, Chris makes it clear he’s hiding something, and Sheriff S is like, ‘Calm down, dude. I heard my kid talking about how you’re a hunter, you know, that shoots deer and stuff, and plus, you killed that mountain lion awhile back.’

He doesn’t actually mention the last part, but I imagine he’s thinking it.

Instead of trying to do actual damage control by apologising and explaining Allison being in the bird attack and his wife’s suicide has really done a number on him and he hasn’t been hunting since before the latter happened, Chris simply says he doesn’t hunt anymore.

Meanwhile, Derek is carrying Isaac into the Hale house as Stiles and Scott talk on the phone. It’s agreed Stiles will come over. Scott hangs up, and there’s clunky dialogue establishing Derek no longer lives in the Hale house but has some flowers stored that will help with the internal damage inflicted by the alphas.

Derek explains he, Isaac, and Peter have been searching for Erica and Boyd. He tries to get Scott to leave.

Yeah, well, Scott didn’t save Isaac out of the goodness of his heart. He wants his tattoo.

At school, Braeden is now in normal clothes. Approaching Lydia and Allison, she asks where Scott is. Then,grabbing her wrists, she leaves identical bruises before wandering off when she sees the twins nearby.

Chris comes over to takes them both home.

This is the season Allison dies. It wouldn’t surprise me if Chris’s recounting of it was sometimes off.

Whether this is in play or not, I’m not sure. It’s possible one of Lydia’s parents told the school, should there be an emergency, Chris has permission to take Lydia, but I doubt it.

To clarify, I’m not talking about on a student getting a ride from a friend at the end of a normal school day. Despite what happened with the birds, it doesn’t seem school has been cancelled. The school isn’t going to stop any parents who rush over and sign their kids out early, but in real life, they’d probably say, ‘Sorry, Mr Argent, but Lydia can’t leave unless one of her parents comes to get her.’ Just as they’d tell Melissa, ‘Of course, you or someone you want to send can come pick Scott up, but I’m sorry, we can’t just let him leave.’

Maybe Chris had the school contact one of the Martins and got verbal/email permission, but honestly, I think it’s just something the writers didn’t take into account.

Lydia goes on ahead, and Chris brings forth more clunky dialogue. He reminds Allison of their deal of them staying in town only as long as they stay out of everything supernatural.

At the clinic, Deaton shows Sheriff S cages of dead animals who killed themselves.

Back at Derek’s, Scott explains the tattoo is a reward for not contacting Allison. Derek agrees to help, and Stiles tries to go outside to wait. However, Derek recruits him to help hold Scott down.

Oddly enough, the 147-pound supposed human remains both alive and supposedly human after this scene.

Later, Scott wakes up excited at his new tattoo.

There’s a brief scene of Braeden hiding.

Back at the Hale house, Scott and Stiles start to leave, but Scott realises Derek has painted one side of the door. Again, Derek tries to get him to go home, but instead, Scott uses his claws to reveal the alpha symbol.

At school, Braden is cornered.

Meanwhile, Derek explains about the alpha pack.

There’s a scene of Braeden fighting.

Then, as Derek is explaining about Deucalion, said leader approaches Braeden.

Scott asks how one deals with an Alpha pack.

“With all the help I can get,” Derek answers.

If this did happen, Derek has learned to flatter Scott to get what he needs/wants.

Isaac startles them by asking, “Where is she?” They look over, and having sat up, he demands, “Where’s the girl?”

I really like Derek’s reaction. He simply asks, “What girl?”

Back at school, Braeden and Deucalion have a brief conversation implying he’ll get Derek to kill Scott, and I doubt this but don’t have any idea what might have actually happened. Then,it’s implied he kills her, and I’m not sure if the Braeden who eventually comes back is the one here or not.

In Allison’s new room, Lydia and Allison are debating wall colours when Allison notices the identical bruises.

There’s a fade to the symbol elsewhere, and there’s a back shot of a black, masculine figure. Whether the actor is Sinqua Walls in this scene or not, the character is Boyd.

A white, feminine-looking hand wraps around his. Whether it’s Gage Golightly, Adelaide Kane, or a different actress, the show wants viewers to believe the character is Erica.

Fin.


End file.
